Samuel Orcutt
SAMUEL ORCUTT
HISTORIAN
GENEALOGIST
CHRONICLER OF
EARLY DERBY
HISTORY
The
History of the Old Town of Derby, Connecticut 1642-1880 is the most
comprehensive account of the early history of Derby through the year of
1882. Rev. Samuel Orcutt collaborated with local historian Dr. Ambrose
Beardsley to produce the account.
Samuel
Orcutt was born in in 1824 in Albany, NY. He became a minister in the
Methodist Episcopal Church and preached in New York City and Long Island
before coming to Connecticut.
Orcutt was a prolific writer of town histories in Connecticut. In
addition to his book on Derby, he also wrote histories of Bridgeport,
Stratford, Wolcott, Torrington, New Milford, and Bridgewater. He went
beyond town histories in writing e also wrote a book entitled The
Indians of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Valleys and another called
Henry Tomlinson, and his descendants..... He was very interested
in family genealogies and his writing is full of biographies and family
trees.
Orcutt died tragically in a train accident in 1893 and is buried in the
Old Stratford Cemetery. His headstone includes these appropriate words,
“Historian & Genealogist – His published works are his Monument”.
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